The solar wind today is a very fast 513.2 km/sec. A high-speed solar wind stream is buffeting Earth's magnetic field. When the stream arrived during the late hours of Dec. 7th, a G2-class geomagnetic storm broke out around the poles and Northern Lights spilled over the Canadian border into several US states. States as far south as South Dakota may see auroras tonight. There are five active sunspot clusters on the Sun today. Sunspot AR1916 has a 'beta-gamma' magnetic field that harbors energy for M-class solar flares.

The Canadian Meteor Orbit Radar (CMOR) is detecting an outburst of Andromedid meteors on today. "Meteor rates last night were near 20 per hour (ZHR)," reports Bill Cooke of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office. "The shower could increase in intensity tonight, so we hope observers (especially Europeans) will be alert for meteors." There is a small Moon tonight, but most skies are overcast in the US. Andromedid meteoroids come from Comet Biela, which broke apart in the 19th century. The shower's radiant in Andromeda is high in the sky after sunset for observers in the Northern Hemisphere. A similar outburst of Andromedids in 2011 was rich in faint meteors.

Microsoft Taking Protective Measures Against US Agency GovernmentMicrosoft is now labeling the US government in the same way that they label cyber criminals, as an ‘advanced, persistent threat’ according to this latest story from ZDNet. While Microsoft is now taking measures to protect the data of their users, knowing that they are taking these steps to protect this data FROM the United States government while comparing our government to cyber criminals should be enough to send chills down the backs of anyone who lives in the United States and provides MORE PROOF that this government is nothing but a bunch of criminals masquerading as government.  Microsoft’s EVP of Legal and Corporate Affairs outlined the company’s new data protection strategy on the basis that the US government is an “advanced persistent threat” — a label used for cyber criminals.

Americans Missing the Boat for the MoonAmericans from Buzz Aldrin to president Barack Obama say it’s a waste of time to put men back on the moon -- so why are foreign countries so eager to take that one small step?

While several private American companies are planning robotic missions to the moon, China launched a man-sized robotic scout to the moon on Monday. The country’s recent manned missions and efforts to build a new space base suggest a future manned mission to the moon, though why is an open question. Speculation has run from the desire to build a military missile base -- a Death Star of sorts -- to national pride to simple economics.

The answer may be far simpler: The moon is “easy” to get to.

“If you’re still trying to test out your space legs, it’s a great place to do it,” said one NASA engineer familiar with the agency’s plans. NASA’s current space agenda includes a highly challenging project to tow an asteroid back to Earth, as well as transporting men to Mars within two decades -- projects of vast technical complexity compared with the moon landings America ended four decades ago.

'NASA is not going to the moon with a human as a primary project probably in my lifetime.'

- NASA administrator Charles Bolden

“Mars and the asteroid mission is just clearly not something most of them can even fathom taking a major role in, whereas going to the moon is something that they can do, as the Chinese have proven,” he said.

Others, including a chorus of ex-astronauts and policy experts, argue that NASA is making a mistake by ignoring the moon, which still fascinates the Earthbound. Only 12 men have ever set foot on the moon, Americans all of them, the last one 41 years ago.

Dennis Wingo, a space entrepreneur and author of the book “MoonRush,” thinks the Chinese mission is about supporting the world’s exploding population.

“China is spending billions on resource acquisition in Africa, South America and other places around the world,” he told FoxNews.com. “If you look at the design of their system for this mission, it is very much a mineral prospector as much as a science mission.”

Yet America will not return to the moon, NASA administrator Charlie Bolden makes clear.

“NASA is not going to the moon with a human as a primary project probably in my lifetime,” Bolden said at an April panel in Washington. Bolden acknowledged the worldwide interest in putting men back on the moon -- and said he was willing to help out any other nation in their efforts.

“They all have dreams of putting humans on the Moon,” he said. “I have told every head of agency of every partner agency that if you assume the lead in a human lunar mission, NASA will be a part of that.”

NASA echoed that sentiment today, telling FoxNews.com that it is working with international partners to plan missions to the moon and elsewhere.

"The Global Exploration Roadmap we recently released is a clear signal that the global community is committed to working together on a unified deep-space exploration strategic plan, with robotic and human missions to destinations that include near-Earth asteroids, the moon and Mars," NASA's David Weaver said.

That’s fine with some, including legendary moonwalker Buzz Armstrong himself.

"Do not put NASA astronauts on the moon. They have other places to go," Aldrin said in his book, "Mission to Mars: My Vision for Space Exploration .” Aldrin argues that NASA should strive to put humans on Mars instead. But other experts call America’s agenda a profound oversight.

“Our political system made a possibly fatal mistake in 1968 [by] shifting the entire focus of the American government from one of forward looking future-supporting projects such as the interstate highway system, advanced aerospace, and space development,” Wingo said. “We are reaping the fruits of that mistake today.”

The NASA engineer described the situation as complicated, partly due to politics.

“George Bush was going to the moon, and when the new administration came in they were looking for something to do,” he told FoxNews.com.

It’s clear that the far more scientifically challenging mission to an asteroid isn’t resonating, said Albert Carnesale, former chancellor of UCLA and chair of a recently completed National Academies Committees on NASA’s Strategic Direction.

“The asteroid mission clearly had not been accepted either within or without the NASA community as a next step,” Carnesale told FoxNews.com.

It may be time to reconsider our missions, some suggest, especially if you could find innovative ways to get to the moon. And several U.S. companies have been working on just that. The latest is Moon Express, which will unveil the MX-1 spacecraft at the Autodesk University show in Las Vegas Thursday evening -- the micro-spacecraft that will in 2015 mark the first U.S. soft landing on the moon since the days of the Apollo program.

The craft looks for all the world like two stacked donuts wearing an ice cream cone, and the tiny vehicle clearly isn’t big enough for a human being. It's just big enough to scoop up some rocks and dirt and return to Earth. Moon Express plans to mine our satellite, and NASA endorses that idea.

"NASA ... supports commercial exploration of the moon," Weaver said. "We have solicited ideas from industry to help stimulate commercial robotic lunar transportation services as the first step in assessing interest for public-private partnerships to jointly develop a robotic lander that could demonstrate technologies and enable research opportunities for government and commercial customers on the moon."

Bigelow Aerospace’s CEO recently said he wanted to sell property on the moon, a Japanese firm suggested a solar panel ring around the moon, and China’s Chang’e 3 lander -- which should touch down on the moon in mid-December -- will be the first controlled landing since the Soviet Union’s Luna-24 mission in 1976.

China’s mission could serve as a wake-up call to the world, Moon Express CEO Bob Richards said.

“We’re kind of waiting to see if it’s the Sputnik of our generation,” he told FoxNews.com

Control the Moon and thus the Earth

The notion of siting a colony on the Moon originated before the Space Age. In 1638 Bishop John Wilkins wrote A Discourse Concerning a New World and Another Planet, in which he predicted a human colony on the Moon.[6] Konstantin Tsiolkovsky (1857–1935), among others, also suggested such a step.[7] From the 1950s onwards, a number of concepts and designs have been suggested by scientists, engineers and others.

In 1954, science-fiction author Arthur C. Clarke proposed a lunar base of inflatable modules covered in lunar dust for insulation.[8] A spaceship, assembled in low Earth orbit, would launch to

the Moon, and astronauts would set up the igloo-like modules and an inflatable radio mast. Subsequent steps would include the establishment of a larger, permanent dome; an algae-based air purifier; a nuclear reactor for the provision of power; and electromagnetic cannons to launch cargo and fuel to interplanetary vessels in space.

In 1959, John S. Rinehart suggested that the safest design would be a structure that could "[float] in a stationary ocean of dust", since there were, at the time this concept was outlined, theories that there could be mile-deep dust oceans on the Moon.[9] The proposed design consisted of a half-cylinder with half-domes at both ends, with a micrometeoroid shield placed above the base.

Project Horizon[edit]Main article: Project Horizon

Project Horizon was a 1959 study regarding the United States Army's plan to establish a fort on the Moon by 1967.[10] Heinz-Hermann Koelle, a German rocket engineer of the Army Ballistic Missile Agency (ABMA) led the Project Horizon study. The first landing would be carried out by two "soldier-astronauts" in 1965 and more construction workers would soon follow. Through numerous launches (61 Saturn I and 88 Saturn II), 245 tons of cargo would be transported to the outpost by 1966.

Lunex Project[edit]Main article: Lunex Project

Lunex Project was a US Air Force plan for a manned lunar landing prior to the Apollo Program in 1961. It envisaged a 21-airman underground Air Force base on the Moon by 1968 at a total cost of $7.5 billion.

Sub-surface base[edit]In 1962, John DeNike and Stanley Zahn published their idea of a sub-surface base located at the Sea of Tranquility.[8] This base would house a crew of 21, in modules placed four meters below the surface, which was believed to provide radiation shielding on par with Earth's atmosphere. DeNike and Zahn favored nuclear reactors for energy production, because they were more efficient than solar panels, and would also overcome the problems with the long Lunar nights. For the life support system, an algae-based gas exchanger was proposed.

Recent proposals[edit]As of 2006, Japan planned to have a Moon base in 2030.[11]

As of 2007, Russia planned to have a Moon base in 2027–2032.[12]

In 2007 Jim Burke of the International Space University in France said people should plan to preserve humanity's culture in the event of a civilization-stopping asteroid impact with Earth. A Lunar Noah's Ark was proposed.[13] Subsequent planning may be taken up by the International Lunar Exploration Working Group (ILEWG).[14][15][16]

In a January 2012 speech Newt Gingrich, Republican candidate for President, proposed a plan to build a U.S. moon colony by the year 2020.[17]

Moon exploration[edit]Main articles: Exploration of the Moon and List of current and future lunar missions

Exploration of the Lunar surface by spacecraft began in 1959 with the Soviet Union's Luna program. Luna 1 missed the Moon, but Luna 2 made a hard landing (impact) into its surface, and became the first artificial object on an extraterrestrial body. The same year, the Luna 3 mission radioed photographs to Earth of the Moon's hitherto unseen far side, marking the beginning of a decade-long series of unmanned Lunar explorations.

Responding to the Soviet program of space exploration, US President John F. Kennedy in 1961 told the U.S. Congress on May 25: "I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the Earth." The same year the Soviet leadership made some of its first public pronouncements about landing a man on the Moon and establishing a Lunar base.

Manned exploration of the lunar surface began in 1968 when the Apollo 8 spacecraft orbited the Moon with three astronauts on board. This was mankind's first direct view of the far side. The following year, the Apollo 11 Lunar module landed two astronauts on the Moon, proving the ability of humans to travel to the Moon, perform scientific research work there, and bring back sample materials.

Additional missions to the Moon continued this exploration phase. In 1969 the Apollo 12 mission landed next to the Surveyor 3 spacecraft, demonstrating precision landing capability. The use of a manned vehicle on the Moon's surface was demonstrated in 1971 with the Lunar Rover during Apollo 15. Apollo 16 made the first landing within the rugged Lunar highlands. However, interest in further exploration of the Moon was beginning to wane among the American public. In 1972 Apollo 17 was the final Apollo Lunar mission, and further planned missions were scrapped at the directive of President Nixon. Instead, focus was turned to the Space Shuttle and manned missions in near Earth orbit.

The Soviet manned lunar programs failed to send a manned mission to the Moon. However, in 1966 Luna 9 was the first probe to achieve a soft landing and return close-up shots of the Lunar surface. Luna 16 in 1970 returned the first Soviet Lunar soil samples, while in 1970 and 1973 during the Lunokhod program two robotic rovers landed on the Moon. Lunokhod 1 explored the Lunar surface for 322 days, and Lunokhod 2 operated on the Moon about four months only but covered a third more distance. 1974 saw the end of the Soviet Moonshot, two years after the last American manned landing. Besides the manned landings, an abandoned Soviet moon program

included building the moonbase "Zvezda", which was the first detailed project with developed mockups of expedition vehicles[18] and surface modules.[19]

In the decades following, interest in exploring the Moon faded considerably, and only a few dedicated enthusiasts supported a return. However, evidence of Lunar ice at the poles gathered by NASA's Clementine (1994) and Lunar Prospector (1998) missions rekindled some discussion,[20][21] as did the potential growth of a Chinese space program that contemplated its own mission to the Moon.[22] Subsequent research suggested that there was far less ice present (if any) than had originally been thought, but that there may still be some usable deposits of hydrogen in other forms.[23] However, in September 2009, the Chandrayaan probe, carrying an ISRO instrument, discovered that the Lunar regolith contains 0.1% water by weight, overturning theories that had stood for 40 years.[24]

In 2004, U.S. President George W. Bush called for a plan to return manned missions to the Moon by 2020 (since cancelled – see Constellation program). Propelled by this new initiative, NASA issued a new long-range plan that includes building a base on the Moon as a staging point to Mars. This plan envisions a Lunar outpost at one of the moon's poles by 2024 which, if well-sited, might be able to continually harness solar power; at the poles, temperature changes over the course of a Lunar day are also less extreme,[25] and reserves of water and useful minerals may be found nearby.[25] In addition, the European Space Agency has a plan for a permanently manned Lunar base by 2025.[26][27] Russia has also announced similar plans to send a man to the moon by 2025 and establish a permanent base there several years later.[5]

A Chinese space scientist has said that the People's Republic of China could be capable of landing a human on the Moon by 2022 (see Chinese Lunar Exploration Program),[28] and Japan and India also have plans for a Lunar base by 2030.[29] Neither of these plans involves permanent residents on the Moon. Instead they call for sortie missions, in some cases followed by extended expeditions to the Lunar base by rotating crew members, as is currently done for the International Space Station.

NASA’s LCROSS/LRO mission had been scheduled to launch in October 2008.[30] The launch was delayed until the 18th of June 2009,[31] resulting in LCROSS's impact with the Moon at 11:30 UT on the 9th of October, 2009.[32][33] The purpose is preparing for future Lunar exploration.

Water discovered on Moon[edit]On September 24, 2009 NASA announced the discovery of water on the Moon. The discovery was made by three instruments on board Chandrayaan-1. These were the ISRO's Moon Impact Probe (MIP), the Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) and Mini-Sar, belonging to NASA.[34]

On November 13, 2009 NASA announced that the LCROSS mission had discovered large quantities of water ice on the Moon around the LCROSS impact site at Cabeus. Robert Zubrin, president of the Mars Society, relativized the term 'large': "The 30 m crater ejected by the probe contained 10 million kilograms of regolith. Within this ejecta, an estimated 100 kg of water was detected. That represents a proportion of ten parts per million, which is a lower water

concentration than that found in the soil of the driest deserts of the Earth. In contrast, we have found continent sized regions on Mars, which are 600,000 parts per million, or 60% water by weight."[35] Although the Moon is very dry on the whole, the spot where the LCROSS impacter hit was chosen for a high concentration of water ice. Dr. Zubrin's computations are not a sound basis for estimating the percentage of water in the regolith at that site. Researchers with expertise in that area estimated that the regolith at the impact site contained 5.6 ± 2.9% water ice, and also noted the presence of other volatile substances. Hydrocarbons, material containing sulfur, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, methane and ammonia were present.[36]

In March 2010, NASA reported that the findings of its mini-SAR radar aboard Chandrayaan-1 were consistent with ice deposits at the Moon's north pole. It is estimated there is at least 600 million tons of ice at the north pole in sheets of relatively pure ice at least a couple of meters thick.[37]

Advantages and disadvantages[edit]This article contains a pro and con list. Please help improve it by integrating both sides into a more neutral presentation. (November 2012)

For more details on this topic, see space colonization.

Placing colony on a natural body would provide an ample source of material for construction and other uses in space, including shielding from cosmic radiation. The energy required to send objects from the Moon to space is much less than from Earth to space. This could allow the Moon to serve as a source of construction materials within cis-lunar space. Rockets launched from the Moon would require less locally produced propellant than rockets launched from Earth. Some proposals include using electric acceleration devices (mass drivers) to propel objects off the Moon without building rockets. Others have proposed momentum exchange tethers (see below). Furthermore, the Moon does have some gravity, which experience to date indicates may be vital for fetal development and long-term human health.[38][39] Whether the Moon's gravity (roughly one sixth of Earth's) is adequate for this purpose, however, is uncertain.

In addition, the Moon is the closest large body in the Solar System to Earth. While some Earth-crosser asteroids occasionally pass closer, the Moon's distance is consistently within a small range close to 384,400 km. This proximity has several benefits:

A lunar base could be a site for launching rockets with locally-manufactured fuel to distant planets such as Mars. Launching rockets from the Moon would be easier than from Earth because the Moon's gravity is lower, requiring a lower escape velocity. A lower escape velocity would require less propellant, but there is no guarantee that less propellant would cost less money than that required to launch from Earth.

The energy required to send objects from Earth to the Moon is lower than for most other bodies.

Transit time is short. The Apollo astronauts made the trip in three days and future technologies could improve on this time.

The short transit time would also allow emergency supplies to quickly reach a Moon colony from Earth, or allow a human crew to evacuate relatively quickly from the Moon

to Earth in case of emergency. This could be an important consideration when establishing the first human colony.

If the Moon were colonized then it could be tested if humans can survive in low gravity. Those results could be utilized for a viable Mars colony as well.

The round trip communication delay to Earth is less than three seconds, allowing near-normal voice and video conversation, and allowing some kinds of remote control of machines from Earth that are not possible for any other celestial body. The delay for other Solar System bodies is minutes or hours; for example, round trip communication time between Earth and Mars ranges from about eight to forty minutes. This, again, could be particularly valuable in an early colony, where life-threatening problems requiring Earth's assistance could occur.

On the Lunar near side, the Earth appears large and is always visible as an object 60 times brighter than the Moon appears from Earth, unlike more distant locations where the Earth would be seen merely as a star-like object, much as the planets appear from Earth. As a result, a Lunar colony might feel less remote to humans living there.

A Lunar base would provide an excellent site for any kind of observatory.[4] In the near-vacuum of the Moon's atmosphere, there is practically no atmospheric diffraction. Observations could be made continuously, provided that during the lunar day an optical telescope would be shaded from the Sun and from surrounding glare, and that it would not be pointed too close to the Sun or to the horizon. It would be possible to maintain constant observations on a specific target with a few such observatories at different longitudes. The Moon's geological inactivity and its infrastructural remoteness bring about an unusual mechanical calmness, which would be advantageous particularly regarding the erection of interferometric telescopes, even at relatively high frequencies such as visible light.[40] NASA scientists have done developmental work toward manufacturing telescope mirrors using lunar material.[41] Building observatory facilities on the Moon from lunar materials allows many of the benefits of space based facilities without the need to launch these into space.

A farm at the Lunar North Pole could provide eight hours of sunlight per day during the local summer by rotating crops in and out of the sunlight which is continuous for the entire summer. A beneficial temperature, radiation protection, insects for pollination, and all other plant needs could be artificially provided during the local summer for a cost. One estimate suggested a 0.5 hectare space farm could feed 100 people.[42]

There are several disadvantages to the Moon as a colony site:

The long lunar night would impede reliance on solar power and require a colony to be designed that could withstand large temperature extremes. An exception to this restriction are the so-called "peaks of eternal light" located at the Lunar north pole that are constantly bathed in sunlight. The rim of Shackleton Crater, towards the Lunar south pole, also has a near-constant solar illumination. Other areas near the poles that get light most of the time could be linked in a power grid.

The Moon is highly depleted in volatile elements, such as nitrogen and hydrogen. Carbon, which forms volatile oxides, is also depleted. A number of robot probes including Lunar Prospector gathered evidence of hydrogen generally in the Moon's crust consistent with what would be expected from solar wind, and higher concentrations near

the poles.[43] There had been some disagreement whether the hydrogen must necessarily be in the form of water. The mission of the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) proved in 2009 that there is water on the Moon.[44] This water exists in ice form perhaps mixed in small crystals in the regolith in a colder landscape than people have ever mined. Other volatiles containing carbon and nitrogen were found in the same cold trap as ice.[36] If no sufficient means is found for recovering these volatiles on the Moon, they would need to be imported from some other source to support life and industrial processes. Volatiles would need to be stringently recycled. This would limit the colony's rate of growth and keep it dependent on imports. The transportation cost of importing volatiles from Earth could be reduced by constructing the upper stage of supply ships using materials high in volatiles, such as carbon fiber and plastics. The 2006 announcement by the Keck Observatory that the binary Trojan asteroid 617 Patroclus,[45] and possibly large numbers of other Trojan objects in Jupiter's orbit, are likely composed of water ice, with a layer of dust, and the hypothesized large amounts of water ice on the closer, main-belt asteroid 1 Ceres, suggest that importing volatiles from this region via the Interplanetary Transport Network may be practical in the not-so-distant future. However, these possibilities are dependent on complicated and expensive resource utilization from the mid to outer Solar System, which is not likely to become available to a Moon colony for a significant period of time.

It is uncertain whether the low (one-sixth g) gravity on the Moon is strong enough to prevent detrimental effects to human health in the long term. Exposure to weightlessness over month-long periods has been demonstrated to cause deterioration of physiological systems, such as loss of bone and muscle mass and a depressed immune system. Similar effects could occur in a low-gravity environment, although virtually all research into the health effects of low gravity has been limited to zero gravity.

The lack of a substantial atmosphere for insulation results in temperature extremes and makes the Moon's surface conditions somewhat like a deep space vacuum. It also leaves the Lunar surface exposed to half as much radiation as in interplanetary space (with the other half blocked by the moon itself underneath the colony), raising the issues of the health threat from cosmic rays and the risk of proton exposure from the solar wind, especially since two-thirds[citation needed] of the Moon's orbit is outside the protection of the Earth's magnetosphere. Lunar rubble can protect living quarters from cosmic rays.[46] Shielding against solar flares during expeditions outside is more problematic.

When the moon passes through the magnetotail of the earth, the plasma sheet whips across its surface. Electrons crash into the moon and are released again by UV photons on the day side but build up voltages on the dark side.[47] This causes a negative charge build up from −200 V to −1000 V. See Magnetic field of the Moon.

The lack of an atmosphere increases the chances of the colony being hit by meteor. Even small pebbles and dust (micrometeoroids) have the potential to damage or destroy insufficiently protected structures.

Moon dust is an extremely abrasive glassy substance formed by micrometeorites and unrounded due to the lack of weathering. It sticks to everything and can damage equipment, and it may be toxic.[48]

Growing crops on the Moon faces many difficult challenges due to the long lunar night (354 hours), extreme variation in surface temperature, exposure to solar flares, nitrogen-poor soil, and lack of insects for pollination. Due to the lack of any atmosphere on the

Moon, plants would need to be grown in sealed chambers, though experiments have shown that plants can thrive at pressures much lower than those on Earth.[49] The use of electric lighting to compensate for the 354-hour night might be difficult: a single acre of plants on Earth enjoys a peak 4 megawatts of sunlight power at noon. Experiments conducted by the Soviet space program in the 1970s suggest it is possible to grow conventional crops with the 354-hour light, 354-hour dark cycle.[50] A variety of concepts for lunar agriculture have been proposed,[51] including the use of minimal artificial light to maintain plants during the night and the use of fast growing crops that might be started as seedlings with artificial light and be harvestable at the end of one Lunar day.[52]

One of the less obvious difficulties lies not with the Moon itself but rather with the political and national interests of the nations engaged in colonization. Assuming that colonization efforts were able to overcome the difficulties outlined above – there would likely be issues regarding the rights of nations and their colonies to exploit resources on the lunar surface, to stake territorial claims and other issues of sovereignty which would have to be agreed upon before one or more nations established a permanent presence on the moon. The ongoing negotiations and debate regarding the Antarctic is a good case study for prospective lunar colonization efforts in that it highlights the numerous pitfalls of developing/inhabiting a location that is subject to the claims of multiple sovereign nations.

Locations[edit]For more details on this topic, see Geology of the Moon.

Three criteria that a Lunar outpost should meet are:

good conditions for transport operations; a great number of different types of natural objects and features on the Moon of scientific

interest; and natural resources, such as oxygen. The abundance of certain minerals, such as iron oxide,

varies dramatically over the Lunar surface.[53]

While a colony might be located anywhere, potential locations for a Lunar colony fall into three broad categories.

Polar regions[edit]There are two reasons why the Lunar poles might be attractive as locations for a human colony. First, there is evidence that water may be present in some continuously shaded areas near the poles.[54] Second, the Moon's axis of rotation is sufficiently close to being perpendicular to the ecliptic plane that the radius of the Moon's polar circles is less than 50 km. Power collection stations could therefore be plausibly located so that at least one is exposed to sunlight at all times, thus making it possible to power polar colonies almost exclusively with solar energy. Moreover, due to the Moon's uneven surface some sites have nearly continuous sunlight. For example, Malapert mountain, located near the Shackleton crater at the Lunar south pole, offers several advantages as a site:

It is exposed to the sun most of the time (see Peak of Eternal Light for further discussion); two closely spaced arrays of solar panels would receive nearly continuous power.[55]

Its proximity to Shackleton Crater (116 km, or 69.8 mi) means that it could provide power and communications to the crater. This crater is potentially valuable for astronomical observation. An infrared instrument would benefit from the very cold temperatures. A radio telescope would benefit from being shielded from Earth's broad spectrum radio interference.[55]

The nearby Shoemaker and other craters are in constant deep shadow, and might contain valuable concentrations of hydrogen and other volatiles.[55]

At around 5,000 meters (16,500 ft) elevation, it offers line of sight communications over a large area of the moon, as well as to Earth.[55] Without an Earth set, radio transmissions take only two seconds to reach antennae on Earth from the Moon. Virtually every single radio transmission on Earth could be received on the Moon with the right equipment.

The South Pole-Aitken basin is located at the Lunar south pole. This is the second largest known impact basin in the Solar System, as well as the oldest and biggest impact feature on the Moon,[56] and should provide geologists access to deeper layers of the Moon's crust. The crater walls would provide easy access to strata of minerals or hard, basaltic layers that could protect a base from any sort of impact or weapon.

NASA chose to use a south-polar site for the Lunar outpost reference design in the Exploration Systems Architecture Study chapter on Lunar Architecture.[56] The initial CEV “procurement strategies” under Sean O’ Keefe would have seen two “phases” of CEV design. Proposals submitted in May 2005 were to be part of the Phase 1 portion of CEV design, which was to be followed by an orbital or suborbital fly-off of technology demonstrator spacecraft called FAST in 2008. Downselect to one contractor for Phase 2 of the program would have occurred later that year. First manned flight of the CEV would not occur until as late as 2014. In the original plan favored by former NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe, the CEV would launch on an Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV), namely the Boeing Delta IV Heavy or Lockheed Martin Atlas V Heavy EELVs.

However, with the change of NASA Administrators, Mike Griffin did away with this schedule, viewing it as unacceptably slow, and moved directly to Phase 2 in early 2006. He commissioned the 60-day internal study for a re-review of the concepts — now known as the ESAS — which favored launching the CEV on a shuttle-derived launch vehicle. Additionally, Griffin planned to accelerate or otherwise change a number of aspects of the original plan that was released last year[when?]. Instead of a CEV fly-off in 2008, NASA would have moved to Phase 2 of the CEV program in 2006, with CEV flights to have commenced as early as June 2011.[

One of the first things president Obama scrapped was this entire NASA program. China, Japan, India, and Russia have all launched major missions to the Moon, leaving American exploration hopelessly exposed to threats from Space. Once a Chinese or Russian defensive position is established, the Moon will be unapproachable from space.

At the north pole, the rim of Peary Crater has been proposed as a favorable location for a base.[57]

Examination of images from the Clementine mission appear to show that parts of the crater rim

are permanently illuminated by sunlight (except during Lunar eclipses).[57] As a result, the temperature conditions are expected to remain very stable at this location, averaging −50 °C (−58 °F).[57] This is comparable to winter conditions in Earth's Poles of Cold in Siberia and Antarctica. The interior of Peary Crater may also harbor hydrogen deposits.[57]

A 1994[58] bistatic radar experiment performed during the Clementine mission suggested the presence of water ice around the south pole.[20][59] The Lunar Prospector spacecraft reported enhanced hydrogen abundances at the south pole and even more at the north pole, in 2008.[60] On the other hand, results reported using the Arecibo radio telescope have been interpreted by some to indicate that the anomalous Clementine radar signatures are not indicative of ice, but surface roughness.[61] This interpretation, however, is not universally agreed upon.[62]

A potential limitation of the polar regions is that the inflow of solar wind can create an electrical charge on the leeward side of crater rims. The resulting voltage difference can affect electrical equipment, change surface chemistry, erode surfaces and levitate Lunar dust.[63]

Equatorial regions[edit]The Lunar equatorial regions are likely to have higher concentrations of helium-3 (rare on Earth but much sought after for use in nuclear fusion research) because the solar wind has a higher angle of incidence.[64] They also enjoy an advantage in extra-Lunar traffic: The rotation advantage for launching material is slight due to the Moon's slow rotation, but the corresponding orbit coincides with the ecliptic, nearly coincides with the Lunar orbit around Earth, and nearly coincides with the equatorial plane of Earth.

Several probes have landed in the Oceanus Procellarum area. There are many areas and features that could be subject to long-term study, such as the Reiner Gamma anomaly and the dark-floored Grimaldi crater.

Far side[edit]The Lunar far side lacks direct communication with Earth, though a communication satellite at the L2 Lagrangian point, or a network of orbiting satellites, could enable communication between the far side of the Moon and Earth.[65] The far side is also a good location for a large radio telescope because it is well shielded from the Earth.[66] Due to the lack of atmosphere, the location is also suitable for an array of optical telescopes, similar to the Very Large Telescope in Chile.[67] To date, there has been no ground exploration of the far side.

Scientists have estimated that the highest concentrations of helium-3 will be found in the maria on the far side, as well as near side areas containing concentrations of the titanium-based mineral ilmenite. On the near side the Earth and its magnetic field partially shields the surface from the solar wind during each orbit. But the far side is fully exposed, and thus should receive a somewhat greater proportion of the ion stream.[68]

Lunar lava tubes[edit]

Lunar lava tubes are a potential location for constructing a Lunar base. Any intact lava tube on the moon could serve as a shelter from the severe environment of the Lunar surface, with its frequent meteorite impacts, high-energy ultra-violet radiation and energetic particles, and extreme diurnal temperature variations. Lava tubes provide ideal positions for shelter because of their access to nearby resources. They also have proven themselves as a reliable structure, having withstood the test of time for billions of years.

An underground colony would escape the extreme of temperature on the Moon's surface. The average temperature on the surface of the moon is about −5 °C. The day period (about 354 hours) has an average temperature of about 107 °C (225 °F), although it can rise as high as 123 °C (253 °F). The night period (also 354 hours) has an average temperature of about −153 °C (−243 °F).[69] Underground, both periods would be around −23 °C (−9 °F), and humans could install ordinary air conditioners.[70]

One such lava tube was discovered in early 2009.[71]

The vertical hole, in the volcanic Marius Hills region on the moon's near side, is 213 feet wide and is estimated to be more than 260 feet deep, according to findings published in Geophysical Research Letters, a journal of the American Geophysical Union. More important, the scientists say, the hole is protected from the moon's harsh temperatures and meteorite strikes by a thin sheet of lava. That makes the tube a good candidate for further exploration or possible inhabitation, the article says."Lunar lava tubes are a potentially important location for a future lunar base, whether for local exploration and development, or as an outpost to serve exploration beyond the Moon," writes the team, led by Junichi Haruyama, a senior researcher with the Japanese space agency JAXA."Any intact lava tube could serve as a shelter from the severe environment of the lunar surface, with its meteorite impacts, high-energy UV radiation and energetic particles, and extreme diurnal temperature variations."The scientists used high-resolution images from a Japanese moon orbiter called SELENE to discover this lunar lava tube. The findings were published November 12, 2009. Japan’s Kaguya lunar probe, launched Sept. 14, began shooting its first pictures of the moon, and released a first small satellite that will help make detailed measurements of the lunar gravitational field. The 110-pound "baby" satellite is one of a pair to be launched before the main probe itself settles into its final orbit. Together the two will be able to observe the magnetic field of the moon’s backside in detail for the first time, and create a detailed gravity map using a process called "radio interference." The main part of Kaguya – nicknamed for a mythical Japanese moon princess – settled into its 62-mile-high orbit, a set of 14 different instruments took a scheduled year of readings on mineral composition, topography, lunar ionosphere and others, along with high-definition pictures of the surface itself.

China also launched Chang'e 2 as it skimmed over the lunar surface at altitudes of between 9 and 62 miles (15 and 100 kilometers) between October 2010 and May 2011 during its primary mission. The photos have a resolution of about 23 feet (7 meters) and are 17 times sharper than the moon photos snapped by China's first lunar orbiter, Chang'e 1.

China launched the $132 million Chang'e 2 mission in October 2011 as a follow-up to the Chang'e 1 flight in 2007. The second lunar probe's main mission was to scout for potential landing sites for China's first moon lander, the Chang'e 3 spacecraft, which is slated to land in a few days from now.

China's lunar exploration efforts are part of a three-phase program named after the mythical Chinese moon goddess Chang'e. The first phase of the program involves orbital reconnaissance of the moon, followed by a robotic lunar landing and later a sample-return mission. Of particular interest to the Chinese is the Sinus Iridium, the Bay of Rainbows. This is about 236 km in diameter and is relatively free from craters. This means, the surface is relatively new for the Moon. The floor is basaltic lava. Very hard and very stable. Being on the surface of this sea of basalt would provide no cover for solar radiation and would be subject to very high velocity winds close to the surface.

Polar regions of the Moon as believed to be easier to power due to nearly continuous sunlight, easier to irrigate, due to plentiful water at the surface, and easier to protect from solar radiation. Unfortunately, the Helium 3 deposits are close to the equator, but these are a short 500 km away.

Doc OC Starts his Own Agency.The U.S. National Reconnaissance Office launched a new spy satellite Thursday evening on mission NROL-39 -- and the new logo and tagline are quite an eye opener.The new logo features a giant, world-dominating octopus, its sucker-covered tentacles encircling the planet while it looks on with determination, a steely glint in its enormous eye. The logo carries a five-word tagline: “Nothing is beyond our reach.”Christopher Soghoian, principal technologist and senior policy analyst with the ACLU, raised a quizzical eyebrow at the new slogan.“Advice to @ODNIgov: You may want to downplay the massive dragnet spying thing right now. This logo isn't helping,” he wrote.An agency spokeswoman told Forbes that there's a very good reason for the symbol: The octopus is intelligent, and therefore a good emblem for an intelligence agency.“NROL-39 is represented by the octopus, a versatile, adaptable, and highly intelligent creature. Emblematically, enemies of the United States can be reached no matter where they choose to hide,” said Karen Furgerson, a spokeswoman for the NRO. “‘Nothing is beyond our reach’ defines this mission and the value it brings to our nation and the warfighters it supports, who serve valiantly all over the globe, protecting our nation.”'You may want to downplay the massive dragnet spying thing right now. This logo isn't helping.'- Christopher Soghoian, senior policy analyst with the ACLUThe NROL-39 mission was classified, as are nearly all missions and satellites launched by the secretive NRO. It was carried aloft by a United Launch Alliance rocket from the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California at 11:13 p.m. PST, according to NASAspaceflight.com . Because the launch trajectory matched that used by other launches, it was likely carrying a third satellite for the agency’s radar reconnaissance fleet, the site said.Along with its secretive payload, the rocket also carried the Government Experimental Multi-Satellite (GEMSat) payload, which contained 12 “nanosatellites” that will perform a variety of science missions.The NRO mission is to design, build, launch, and maintain America’s intelligence satellites. "Whether creating the latest innovations in satellite technology, contracting with the most cost-efficient industrial supplier, conducting rigorous launch schedules, or providing the highest-quality products to our customers, we never lose focus on who we are working to protect: our Nation and its citizens," its website says.That include those with eight arms

The States are now Forming Structure for Convention

BALTIMORE - It is something never before done.  And like so many journeys, it is beginning with a single step. No, we are not talking about revolution, the way Michael Cannon was warning this week. AUDIO

Senate President David Long, R-Fort Wayne, asks in a letter written to fellow legislative leaders that each state send a bipartisan group of three delegates to the "Mount Vernon Assembly."

He said the meeting will lay the groundwork for a Convention of the States that would, when established by Congress, propose amendments to change various provisions of the Constitution.

"The authors of the Constitution included a state-led amendment option as a check on a runaway federal government," Long said. "The dysfunction we see in Washington, D.C., provides an almost daily reminder of why this option is needed now more than ever."

The initial meeting won't actually consider potential amendment topics, Long said. Instead, it's intended to set up the rules to be followed if and when a constitutional convention is called.

There are two authorized methods for changing the nation's fundamental governing document. The only one that has been used is when two-thirds of Congress proposes an amendment and three-fourths of the states (38 states) ratify it.

However, the Constitution also permits what has come to be known as an "Article V convention," named for its placement in the fifth section of the Constitution.

Under that scenario, two-thirds of state legislatures (34 states) ask Congress to call a Convention of the States for proposing constitutional amendments. If the convention approves an amendment, it then can be ratified by three-fourths of the states and added to the Constitution without congressional approval.

Because an Article V convention has never been called, there are no clear rules on how it would begin — does every state have to pass an identical convention request? — what rules the convention would follow or whether it could be limited in scope.

The primary criticism of the convention idea is the possibility that a "runaway convention" will scrap the entire Constitution

The letter, titled “The Mount Vernon Assembly,” invites each state to send up to three lawmakers to Washington’s historic Mount Vernon Home on Dec. 7.

At this point, more than 100 legislators from 30 states confirmed they will be attending.  There is also a waiting list to get in because of capacity limits.  A spokeswoman for Maryland House Speaker Michael Busch says his office has not heard of the Assembly, nor do they plan to attend.  ABC2 contacted Senate President Thomas “Mike” Miller’s office.  We are awaiting a response.

To keep outside influences to a minimum, all attendees are paying for their own expenses and must be currently serving as a state legislator.

It is important to note these lawmakers are not official delegates authorized by their state legislature, rather those who are simply interested in being part of the process of drafting rules for a Convention of the States. 

Rep. Chris Kapenga (R-Wis.) , one of the lawmakers who signed the invitation letter, says defining how that Convention would work is critically important.  He says there have been hundreds of Article V applications, but never has one been successfully called.

“States are not used to working toward a common goal.  With the focus solely on defining how a Convention of the States, including an Article V Convention for Proposing Amendments, would function, we are learning how to work together.”

Article V Convention

Article V of the Constitution provides two ways to propose and ratify amendments.  The first is through the commonly known Congressional method where a proposed amendment must be approved by two-thirds of both houses of Congress and ratified by three-fourths (38) of the states.

The other, lesser known, process occurs through the states when two-thirds (34 states) ask Congress to “call a Convention for proposing Amendments…”  Those amendments then go through the same ratification process.

The process allowing states to propose amendments was a late addition to the Constitution, being proposed by George Mason just two days before the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia ended in 1787.  Mason believed leaving the amendment process solely up to Congress would result in “no amendments of the proper kind [being] obtained by the people if the Government should become oppressive.”

Laying the groundwork

But Article V doesn’t define how a Convention of the States would operate.

“It is clear the Founders left this responsibility to the states by not specifying it in the Constitution,” said Kapenga.  “As you know, those powers not enumerated are left to the states under the 10 th Amendment.”

He says the Mount Vernon Assembly is the first step to addressing the problem by creating those rules and procedures.  Once they are defined, a Convention of the States would be called to finalize and adopt the rules and procedures.

Proposing, let alone ratifying, any new amendments is still a long way off.  But the first step in that journey has already been taken.  The second step will be made this Saturday at the home George Washington, a man many consider the Father of the Country.

As I mentioned in my book Alienated Nation the path forward is paved by the States. They and they alone have the authority and the resolve to save this Republic. There are three amendments that need to be repealed first.

1. The 16th Amendment. Remove the Federal Government’s Constitutional authority to levy taxes against wages and profits. Replace this with a tax against sales. This will free the people from the tyranny of selective taxation, loopholes for the wealthy and corporations, and secure revenue from the enormous cash culture inside the United States.

2. The 17th Amendment. Return the senate to a body of representatives appointed by the State Legislature. The States shall limit their terms to no more than 3 total terms. There shall be no federal limitation on the State’s impeachment or appointment process.

3. The 27th Amendment. The repeal of this amendment allows the terms and payment to be established for the Congress.

Now, the groundwork is laid to accomplish the work that is necessary to recover the Republic from the plutocracy it has become. There are a few amendments that will return the control of government to the people, restore the balance between the powers, and prevent the global meddling that has brought global hatred to our people.

1. The 28th Amendment: The Executive Branch shall be prohibited from managing agencies. Further, the regulations created by Agencies, Departments, Administrations, and Bureaus shall not have any force of law in any State where that regulation is not ratified by the State legislature. Congress shall represent the citizens of their sovereign States and shall manage the agencies, departments, administrations, and bureaus.

2. The 29th Amendment: The President shall have a cabinet of advisors serving at his will, none of whom can officiate in any capacity in any agency, department, administration, or bureau. These individuals shall be barred from private or public service with any agency, department, administration, or bureau conducting business for or with the Federal government for a period of no less than 5 years. During their service, they shall further be barred from holding any ownership, options, or promise of ownership in any publicly-traded company, or in any company that becomes publicly traded for a period of 5 years after their service in the executive cabinet.

3. The 30th Amendment: The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on any transaction of commerce wherein currency is the form of trade. The rate shall be uniform for all commerce conducted in the several States without exemption. The tax shall be collected at the point of sale and rendered unto the United States Treasury no more than 30 days from the day of the transaction. Congress shall not have the power to lay and collect taxes from income or profits.

4. The 31st Amendment: The Congress of the United States shall be composed by proportion to represent each State, elected by the people thereof, for four years; and each Congressman shall have one vote. No Congressman shall serve for more than three total terms. The electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the State legislatures.

When vacancies occur in the representation of any State in the Congress, the executive authority of such State shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies: Provided, that the legislature of any State may empower the executive thereof to make temporary appointments until the people fill the vacancies by election as the legislature may direct.

This amendment shall not be so construed as to affect the election or term of any Congressman chosen before it becomes valid as part of the Constitution.

5. The 32nd Amendment: The President shall have the authority to review any bill sent for his signature, and to veto any portion of that bill. He shall report the line items vetoed to the American people, unless the reporting of such items shall harm the security of the United States.

6. The 33rd Amendment: The States shall have the sovereign and unfettered command of their own militias and their national guards. The Federal government shall not compel or conscribe any State militia or its national guards into Federal service; however, each State governor shall be free to choose Federal service by legislative consensus unless there is a formal declaration of war signed by Congress. Only after a formal declaration of war by Congress shall the Executive have the authority to command State militias into Federal service.

The Repossession of AmericaWe all know what happens when you cannot make your car payment for 5 months. The bank repossesses your car. It happens so much these days, that we don’t even read the public announcement in the paper that a repossession order has been issued. Well, this is the way it happens with national defaults as well.

The Chinese have made trillions of dollars flooding our shores with super cheap products, and now they are using some of that money to buy land and property all over America. For example, there is now a proposal to construct a multibillion dollar “China City” that would span approximately 600 acres in a remote area of New York state. This “China City” (that is actually what it would be called) would be located on Yankee Lake in Sullivan County, New York. The plans anticipate large numbers of Chinese businesses, plenty of homes for Chinese immigrants, a Chinese high school, a college, a casino and even a theme park. And the first 600 acres is only for “phase one” of the plan. Ultimately, the goal is for “China City” to cover more than 2,000 acres. Those promoting this plan say that it will be a great way for New Yorkers to learn to appreciate Chinese culture.So should we be concerned that the Chinese want to place a little slice of communist China right in the heart of New York state?

 Should we really be allowing other nations (especially ones that publish maps showing what will happen when they nuke us) to be setting up self-sustaining communities inside our own country that have no intention of integrating into the wider culture?

David North of the Center for Immigration Studies is one of those that is sounding the alarm over this project. According to him, the eventual goal of the “China City” project is to essentially take over two small towns and cover a total of more than 2,000 acres…The first version of the plan to emerge was a grandiose one. It would cover more than 2,000 acres (more than three square miles) spread over the towns of Mamakating and Thompson. It would include a Chinese theme park, a city full of China-related businesses, a high school, a college, and 1,000 residences. Every province in China would have an office there and the place would be replete with symbols of Chinese culture. For more on these plans see CCOA’s website, festooned with golden dragons and text in both Mandarin and English. When finished it would be a $6 billion project, its backers say.But for now, the first phase is only going to cover about 600 acres…A revised version of the initial offering was proposed later; this would, as a modest start to the broader project, include a college, an urban area, some family housing, and lots of student housing; it would cover less than 600 acres and would all be in the town of Thompson, whose officials, a local lawyer tells me, are somewhat less hostile to the plan than those in Mamakating.And this is not the first time that this kind of thing has been proposed. As I reported last year, a different Chinese group has purchased 200 acres of land in a rural area of Michigan and hopes to create a “China City” out there…A Chinese group known as “Sino-Michigan Properties LLC” has bought up 200 acres of land near the town of Milan, Michigan. Their plan is to construct a “China City” with artificial lakes, a Chinese cultural center and hundreds of housing units for Chinese citizens. Essentially, it would be a little slice of communist China dropped right into the heartland of America. This “China City” would be located about 40 minutes from both Detroit and Toledo, and it would be marketed to Chinese business people that want to start businesses in the United States.You can read the full article about that project right here.Most of the time, when the Chinese gobble up our properties they do not do it in such large chunks. But make no mistake – they are voraciously buying up real estate right now. In fact, CNN recently published an article about the cities where they are the most active…New York and Los Angeles top the list of U.S. cities they are most interested in, according to Juwai.com, a website where Chinese buyers browse global real estate listings.More surprisingly, Philadelphia and Detroit come in at No. 3 and No. 4.

The top 10 list is rounded out by Houston, Chicago, Las Vegas, Atlanta, San Diego and Memphis.Chinese buyers purchased $8.2 billion worth of U.S. property in 2012, according to Juwai.It has been estimated that the Chinese are now buying one out of every ten homes sold in the state of California. And this buying spree actually appears to be accelerating. The following is a brief excerpt from a recent CNBC article entitled “Chinese buying up California housing“…

At a brand new housing development in Irvine, Calif., some of America’s largest home builders are back at work after a crippling housing crash. Lennar, Pulte, K Hovnanian, Ryland to name a few. It’s a rebirth for U.S. construction, but the customers are largely Chinese.“They see the market here still has room for appreciation,” said Irvine-area real estate agent Kinney Yong, of RE/MAX Premier Realty. “What’s driving them over here is that they have this cash, and they want to park it somewhere or invest somewhere.”So where did they get all of this cash?A lot of it came from us of course. We have lost tens of thousands of businesses and millions of jobs to the Chinese, and now they are literally buying up little pieces of America with the money that we spent on all of the cheap plastic trinkets that they exported to us.

And they are not just buying up residential real estate. They are buying lots of commercial real estate as well. In fact, in a previous article I talked about how one Chinese firm recently purchased one of the most important landmarks in New York City…Chinese conglomerate Fosun International Ltd. (0656.HK) will buy office building One Chase Manhattan Plaza for $725 million, adding to a growing list of property purchases by Chinese buyers in New York city.The Hong Kong-listed firm said it will buy the property from JP Morgan Chase Bank, according to a release on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange website.Chinese firms, in particular local developers, have looked overseas to diversify their property holdings as the economy at home slows. Chinese individuals also have been investing in property abroad amid tight policy measures in the mainland residential market.Earlier this month, Chinese state-owned developer Greenland Holdings Group agreed to buy a 70% stake in an apartment project next to the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., in what is the largest commercial-real-estate development in the U.S. to get direct backing from a Chinese firm.

Animal PrintheadsSpiders, silkworms, and honeybees are already 3D printers—and bioengineering is rapidly making that more than just a poetic metaphor. These creatures are organic examples of depositional manufacturing, and they have been domesticated and used throughout human history for specific creative ends.

Just this week, for example, we learned that, given a special diet, silkworms can produce colored silk, readymade for use in textiles, and other examples are not hard to come by. Indeed, using bees as 3D printers is already something of an accepted artistic process.

These bees create tiny, cocoon-like structures in the soil—one can be seen in the photo, above—using a special gland unique to the species. The resulting, non-fossil-fuel-based natural polyester not only resists biodegradation, it also survives the temperate extremes of New England, from the region's sweltering summers to its subzero winter storms.

More intriguingly, however, the cellophane-like bee plastic "doesn't come from petroleum," Chachra explained to me for a 2011 end-of-year article in Wired UK. "The bees are pretty much just eating pollen and producing this plastic," she continued, "and we're trying to understand how they do it."

Bee plastic, Chachra justifiably speculates, could perhaps someday be used to manufacture everything from office supplies to car bumpers, acting as an oil-free alternative to the plastics we use today and perhaps kickstarting a homegrown bio-industry for New England, where the species thrives.

But even this, of course, is a vision of animal-based manufacturing that relies on the already-existent excretions of living creatures. Could we—temporarily putting aside the ethical implications simply to discuss the material possibilities—perhaps genetically modify bees, silkworms, spiders, and so on to produce substantially more robust biopolymers, something not

just strong enough to resist biodegrading but that could be produced and used on an industrial scale?

Recall, for example, that the U.S. Army was successful in its attempt to genetically engineer a goat to produce spider silk proteins in its milk. Their ultimate goal is to produce an unbreakable super-fiber that can be used in battle gear, including "lightweight body armor made of artificial spider silk," and other military armaments.

Not unlike Dewar's bee-printed bottle, then, augmented cousins of Chachra's plastic-producing bees could thus 3D-print whole car bodies, kitchen counters, architectural parts, and other everyday products.

These possibilities become even more strange and promising when we move to materials like concrete.

Concrete Bees

For an ongoing collaborative project, New York-based designer John Becker and I have been looking at the possibility of using bees that have been genetically modified to print concrete as architectural printheads.

Initially inspired by a somewhat willful misreading of a project published by the CCA in Montréal under the title "Bees Make Concrete Honey," we've imagined and illustrated a series of science-fictional scenarios in which a new bee species, called Apis caementicium—cement bees—could be deployed throughout the city to repair statues and fix architectural ornament, and even to produce whole, free-standing structures, such as cathedrals.

Like the process followed for the Dewar's bottle, seen above, the bees would be given an initial form to work within. Then, buzzing away inside this mold or cast, and additively depositing the ingredients for bio-concrete on the walls, frames, or structures they're attached to, the bees could 3D-print new architectural forms into existence.

This includes, for example, in the image below, the iconic stone lions outside the New York Public Library, damaged by exposure and human contact, but now fixed from within by concrete bees. You could think this as a kind of organic caulking.

Feral PrintersThe bees, of course, eventually escape: first just a few here and there, but then an upstart colony takes hold. Within a few years, as they reproduce and thrive, and as the colonies grow, the city becomes aware of the scale of the problem: rogue 3D-printing bees have infested various parts of the city.

They print where they shouldn't print and, without the direction of their carefully made formwork and molds, what the bees print often makes no sense.

They print on signs and phone poles; they take over parks and gardens where they print strange forms on flowers, sealing orchids and roses in masonry shells.

Tiny fragments of concrete can soon be seen on plants and door frames, beneath cars and on chain-link fences, coiling up and consuming the sides of structures where they were never meant to be, like kudzu; and, of course, strange bee bodies are found now and again, little concrete-laden corpses lying in the grass of backyards, in parking lots, and on rooftops.

Striking creatures, augmented and extraordinary, dot the very city they've also beautified and improved, where they once printed church steeples and apartment ornament, where they fixed cracked walls, statues, and sidewalks.

Of course, other, more adventurous or simply disoriented bees make their way further, hitching inadvertent rides in the holds of planes and cargo ships, mistakenly joining other hives then shipped around the world.

The bees are soon found in Europe, China, and, especially—for reasons never quite clear to materials scientists—India, where, in the image taken below, they can be seen adding unnecessary ornamentation to a temple in Rajasthan. Swarming and uncountable, they busily speck the outside of the building with bulbous and tumid additions no architect would ever have planned for.

As the bees speciate yet further, and their concrete itself mutates—in some cases, so hard it can only be removed by the toughest drills and demolition equipment, other times more like a slow-drying sandstone incapable of achieving any structure at all—this experiment in animal printheads, these living 3D printers producing architecture and industrial objects, comes to end.

A Bee Amidst The MachinesDesigners learn from that, in retrospect, obvious mistakes that led to these feral printers, turning back to their more easily controlled inorganic factories and industrial processes. But, even then, on quiet spring days, a tiny buzzing sound can occasionally be heard from inside the machines, and whole assembly lines come shuddering to a halt. There, within the gears, just doing what it's used to—what we made it do—a tiny 3D-printing bee has taken root, leaving errant clumps of concrete wherever it alights.

Speaking of Revolution

Michael Cannon testified before Congress today that the precedent set by Obama could eventually lead to an armed revolt against the federal government. 

During a congressional committee hearing about the constitutional limits imposed on the presidency and the implications of President Barack Obama’s disregard for implementing the Affordable Care Act as written, one expert testified that the consequences of the president’s

behavior were potentially grave. He said that the precedent set by Obama could eventually lead to an armed revolt against the federal government. 

On Tuesday, Michael Cannon, Cato Institute’s Director of Health Policy Studies, testified before a congressional committee about the dangers of the president’s legal behavior.

“There is one last thing to which the people can resort if the government does not respect the restrains that the constitution places on the government,” Cannon said. “Abraham Lincoln talked about our right to alter our government or our revolutionary right to overthrow it.”

“That is certainly something that no one wants to contemplate,” he continued. “If the people come to believe that the government is no longer constrained by the laws then they will conclude that neither are they.”

“That is a very dangerous sort of thing for the president to do, to wantonly ignore the laws,” Cannon concluded, “to try to impose obligation upon people that the legislature did not approve.”

Detroit Pension Debt Not Special in Written RulingBy Steven Church - 2013-12-05T20:39:23Z

Detroit’s pensions can be cut in bankruptcy because they are no different from any other contractual obligation, the judge overseeing the $18 billion case said in his written opinion.

In the opinion published today, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Steven Rhodes in Detroit expanded on the reasons why he ruled that city could remain under court protection, a decision he announced in court Dec. 3.

“Nothing distinguishes pension debt in a municipal bankruptcy case from any other debt,” Rhodes said in his ruling, which is more than 140 pages long.

Rhodes rejected the claim by union and retirees’ lawyers that cutting pensions would violate the 10th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which limits the powers of the federal government over states.

Michigan’s constitution bars cuts to pensions as well as other contractual obligations, like bonds. Pension advocates claimed cutting them would infringe on state rights.

If the U.S. Constitution bars cuts to “pension benefits in this case, then it would also prohibit the adjustment of any other debt in this case,” Rhodes wrote.

Detroit, the country’s 18th-largest city, has said it doesn’t have the money to pay bondholders, retirees and employees everything it owes them while still providing its 700,000 residents basic city services, such as ambulances and streetlights. The city filed bankruptcy in July.

The Precedents in Pension BankruptcyThere is something that most people do not know. Your 401k is an asset of the Company on the books, until you retire and that fund is rolled into your IRA. If your Company offers a plan in which you are not fully vested until a certain date, then zero of the “matching funds” belong to you until after that date. If you are fired, or the Company declares bankruptcy before that date, the Company will take your matching funds. You will receive the principle only of your investment into that 401k plan.

Now, most retirement funds are funded by the workers during the time of your retirement. If there is not enough income into the plan to pay for your retirement, then the plan will become insolvent.

The truth is that the retired population of America is nearly as large as the working population of America. Retired workers are seen as non-productive shoppers and consumers. Their money is important to eh economy of America, and their votes are vital to the political community of America. Anyone or anything encroaching upon that flow of money into the pockets of retired Americans will be fought with a solidarity unlike anything the world has ever seen. That has been seen as unassailable. Until now.

There appears to be a frenzy of comments lately that public retirees receive excessive pensions in the current economy and that they need to be reduced. Many in the media have taken a brief look at Detroit and decided that costly pensions were the cause of the city’s bankruptcy. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Detroit pays a relatively modest median pension of $19,000 a year to general government retirees and $30,000 to police and fire retirees. Detroit’s pension system was funded at 82 percent in 2011 (and at 99 percent for its police and fire retirement system). That is higher than the national median of 74 percent. But public benefits make easy targets for critics. Let’s take a tour of pensions in bankruptcy through the years.Attorneys Kenneth E. Noble and Kevin M. Baum describe Prichard, Alabama:Prichard, Alabama, which experienced a population decline of approximately 50 percent over the past 50 years, filed for bankruptcy in 1999 after it was unable to pay approximately $3.9 million in delinquent bills. In addition to the unpaid bills, Prichard also admitted to not making payments to its employees’ pension funds and, even though the city had withheld taxes from employees’ paychecks, the city failed to submit such withholdings to the state and federal governments.While in bankruptcy, the city successfully revised its budget so that it no longer operated at a deficit. However, Prichard was still unable to meet its pension obligations. In 2009, Prichard filed for bankruptcy for the second time in order to stay a pending suit brought by its pensioners after it failed to make pension payments for six months. In its chapter 9 petition, the city claimed that during the previous year it had operated a $600,000 deficit on its $10.7 million budget. Further, Prichard had failed to make a $16.5 million payment to its pension fund under its previous plan of adjustment.Prichard, although it filed for bankruptcy in 2009, has not yet met the court’s eligibility requirements and pensions have not been paid, leaving retirees to struggle:Central Falls, Rhode Island’s bankruptcy is described in Benefits Pro:The saga began in August 2011, when the city of 18,000 declared bankruptcy. Myriad woes stemming from an industrial economy in decline helped cause the problem. When Central Falls

declared bankruptcy, it had a debt of $21 million, an unfunded pension liability of $80 million and an annual budget of $16 million against $21 million in expenditures. Something had to give.Under the Chapter 9 bankruptcy filing, the state-appointed overseer, Robert Flanders, slashed the pensions of Central Falls’ police and fire retirees by as much as 55 percent …Regardless, Ogni and Cardin [retiree reps] say the cuts to pensions were rammed through with no time to study the matter or offer to negotiate. There was a single meeting during which the cuts were spelled out. It turned out to be a take-it-or-leave-it proposition.Central Falls’ small group of retirees had no money or time to defend their pensions and lost about half of their monthly payments through the receivership and bankruptcy process.In a very unusual case, Vallejo, California exited bankruptcy after actually paying more for pensions according to Calpensions.com:Vallejo got court approval to exit from bankruptcy last week with a plan that includes a sharp increase in pension payments to CalPERS — the opposite of what many expected when the city declared bankruptcy in May 2008.Vallejo demonstrated that bankruptcy proceedings are not cookie cutter and that their outcomes rely on many factors.Jefferson County, Alabama, the largest municipal bankruptcy until Detroit, actually did nothing to the city’s pensions and never even listed them as creditors. Jefferson County pensions were funded at the approximate level of the Detroit Police and Fire Retirement System.Stockton, California was recently ruled eligible to proceed into bankruptcy, but the pension issue is complex. Stockton’s city manager and council don’t want to cut pensions after eliminating retiree health care benefits (OPEBs). City officials believe that it is vital to retain full pensions to attract top-notch public employees. Meanwhile, bond insurers appear to have convinced federal bankruptcy judge Christopher Klein that Stockton pensions should suffer haircuts if bondholders have to. Front Page Magazine jumps on the story:Yet the real story has yet to unfold: it must still be determined whether the city’s creditors or its public employee retirement funds get paid off first.Klein himself was unsure. ”I don’t know whether spiked pensions can be reeled back in,” he said during his ruling. “There are very complex and difficult questions of law that I can see out there on the horizon.”The biggest part of Stockton’s debt is the $900 million it owes to the California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS). Since this is the first Chapter 9 bankruptcy case challenging state pension obligations, what Klein is essentially referring to is whether the 10th Amendment of the Constitution preserving states’ rights trumps federal bankruptcy law. Thus, it is likely this case will eventually end up before the U.S. Supreme Court.In Stockton two very powerful forces are facing off: CalPERS – the state pension fiduciary – and bond insurers (the legal grinding stones of muniland).San Bernardino, California filed for bankruptcy eligibility last year, but the city has numerous muddled issues related to its pension obligations. The city stopped making pension payments to CalPERS last year, but it resumed these payments in July. The city’s approach to its large pension liabilities is unknown.Detroit presents the only municipal bankruptcy case, outside of Central Falls, where the bankruptcy manager has directly gone after the pension liabilities from the beginning of the proceedings. Unlike Central Falls, Detroit’s pensions are well-funded by national standards. It may also likely present state and federal legal issues if Detroit’s pensions, enshrined in the state’s constitution, are given haircuts.The treatment of public pensions is not as straightforward as many expect it to be. The show in Detroit is just beginning. Stay tuned.

The most important word in protecting the more than 70 trillion dollars accumulated in pensions, 401k accounts, and social security accounts is vigilance. Someone must attend every single

city council meeting, county commission meeting, and read every entry into the Federal Register. If you miss one meeting or overlook one day of the Federal Register, that will be the day you lose your retirement.

When the rulers of the nation run out of money, they will be searching every box and closet to find a way to buy their way out of insolvency. If your retirement account, and I am speaking collectively and not individually, is the only account with a balance, the court will be too slow to protect you. Like John Corzine’s depositors, you will lose your entire savings because the rulers will simply take your deposits, and you will be lucky if they leave behind an IOU. Mr. Corzine’s depositors were given nothing, and Mr. Corzine simply walked out of the courtroom with $1.2 billion of his depositer’s money and didn’t have to serve one minute behind bars.

The Icelandic Pots and Pans RevolutionIn 2002 the major Icelandic state banks were privatized and sold/given at a low price to the good friends of the major political parties, at that time Sjarois flokkurinn, the Independence party and Framsóknar flokkurinn, The Progressive Party.

In just 6 short years the new Bank owners had increased the value of the banks to twelve times the size of the Icelandic State Budget. This was done using derivatives and currency speculation. In October 2008 this inflated bubble burst with the consequence that all the major banks in Iceland went bankrupt, the only three that had survived the crash of Lehman Brothers in New York.

The Government decided to guarantee all deposits in the banks without limit, a positive measure for old and ordinary people’s savings but the law also guaranteed the deposits of the rich and very rich, many of whom were responsible for the crash. With the bank bailout exceeding the resources of the entire country, soon the IMF was asked by the bank cronies to come to the rescue.

People started to gather in front of the Parliament building, banging pots and pans, shouting and making noise demanding that the Government should step down. They demanded the Director of the Central Bank (David Oddson, who had been prime minister for more than twenty years and had resigned in 2005 to take on this office) should be fired and that the taxpayers and depositors should not be made to bear the losses. They demanded that the bankers and financial speculators responsible for it should be fired and jailed.

They also demanded a new Constitution replacing the existing one written by the once ruling Danish king. On January 23rd Geir Haarde and his entire Government resigned. On April 25th general elections took place leading to the formation of a coalition Government with the Social Democratic Alliance, the Independent Party and the Left Green Movement. The Director of the Central Bank was fired. A citizen council was formed, and a new Constitution was drafted to prevent this from happening again.

The New government continued to accept the IMF guidance which did nothing for the badly hit population. Britain and Holland demanded that the Icelandic State would guarantee deposits in outlets of Landsbankinn (one of the major banks) in their countries. It had promised sky high interests paid on the deposits before the crash. The Icelandic Public was expected to pay millions of Icelandic kronas for those empty promises of this private bank when it became bankrupt.

The people of Iceland protested and demanded that President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson refuse to accept this claim. In a referendum 93% said no to accepting the claims. The bureaucrats tried to make a new contract with the British and the Dutch but Icelandic people were vigilant and watchful and protested again, and a new referendum again confirmed people refused to pay for the blunders of the banks..

**The activities**The Pots and Pans revolution consisted of massive protests in the first month after the bank crash where thousands of people took part, mainly in front of the Parliament. It was nonviolent all throughout, even when some people started to throw stones at the police others from amongst the protesters made a human wall to protect the police.

An association was formed to fight for the interests of hard hit families with a membership of over 5.000 people still although the Government has more or less rejected their claims. Meetings took place in the biggest Cinema and other places where Ministers and high officials from the Government, from the Trade Unions and other influential bodies were invited to sit in a panel and answer questions from the public. They were broadcast in the National TV and had strong impact on the public.

Groups were formed assisting people that were about to lose their homes, others gathered around the homes of the bankers and businessmen demanding that they pay for the damage they caused. Some groups started to look for alternative economic models and financial system. An organization was formed to promote Real Democracy which put forward proposals of many radical democratic changes to the Committee which was writing the New Constitution, but few of those changes were included. An organization was formed called “Siðbót” or “Morality” actively supporting issues of human rights and the claims of the people. In the summer of 2009 an organization named “Alþingi götunnar” or the “Parliament of the Street” was formed.

This informal organization consisted of the most active grass roots organizations and political groups of the revolution, amongst them, the Humanist Party. This organization had a meeting in front of the Parliament every Saturday from autumn 2009 until spring 2010 with demands of compensation to families and individuals who suffered from the Crash and to reject the claims of the British and the Dutch to pay for the banks blunders.

**The political child of the pots and pans revolution**The people’s revolution formed a Citizens Movement, we would call this the Tea Party, that put forward candidates in the elections in April 2009. The agenda was to uphold the demands of the revolution. Although four were elected they failed to carry out their stated commitments. So this is the sad story of the political child of the Pots and Pans revolution. One obvious reason for this was that the Citizens Movement was formed more or less around specific issues or demands (safeguarding the interests of those who suffered most from the Crash) and did not have any actual political platform. There was no guiding philosophy behind their politics.

**Participation of the Humanist Party**The slogan “Mennska framtíð,” “A Human Future,” became very prominent in the Pots and Pans revolution and it was very noticeably favored by the media. They were fortunate. Bank protestors in America were heavily criticized by nearly every media outlet.

The Humanist party had its main speaker in the first meeting of the Parliament of the Street emphasizing the importance of people starting to meet and communicate about a different

society everywhere, in the schools and neighborhoods and workplaces and about how the revolution should come from the people and be for the people. Creative posters, originally from Spain, denouncing the financial institutions with humour inspired many young people.

**Conclusion**People showed remarkable solidarity with great common spirit, managed to dismiss the Government and the chief director of the Central Bank, stood up to the Financial institutions and refused to pay the debts of corrupt banks. A Political party was founded on the basis of the main demands of the people for compensation for their losses because of the Economic Crash. On the other hand the “Pots and Pans Revolution” did not promote radical demands for a new society nor a new economic system. The new government consists of the traditional parties, has no intention to change the banking system and is following IMF guidelines obediently to restore the old system and make sure that the tax payers should carry the burden.

There is amongst the activists some loss of spirit and the feeling that things will slide into the same old pattern. Nevertheless a few groups continue to work on constructive themes such as a new financial system and preparing the foundation for a democratic bank. The Humanist Party has monthly open meetings on Humanism and Democracy in Politics, discussing “Is Interest an Economic Cancer?”, “Is Speculation Economic Terrorism?” and “Let´s take the Power from the Banks”.

New Stealth Spy Drone Already FlyingThe latest top secret unmanned spy plane to be uncovered isn’t just a design idea, it’s already flying at the Air Force’s famed Area 51. Unlike the recently announced SR-72, the new RQ-180 from Northrop Grumman is believed to be currently in flight testing according to Aviation Week and Space Technology.The RQ-180 is a new design aimed at intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR, a.k.a. spying) and incorporates stealth technology, in addition to an efficient new design that’s tailored to flights over countries where the red carpet isn’t being rolled out for current U.S. spy drones.It’s the successor to the Lockheed Martin RQ-170 Sentinel, known as the “Beast of Kandahar” for its countless missions out of Afghanistan since 2007. It is assumed the RQ-170 has flown missions over Iran and Pakistan, but the aircraft lacks the endurance of other unmanned aircraft, somewhat limiting its capabilities. Iran displayed what is claimed to be a captured RQ-170 in December 2011. The U.S. Air Force would only acknowledge that it lost control of an RQ-170 over western Afghanistan at the same time.The new RQ-180 is thought to largely address the problem of flying in hostile airspace through improved stealth design and better aerodynamics. According to Aviation Week, the unmanned spy plane would allow the Air Force to expand ISR capabilities beyond the “permissive environments — such as Iraq and Afghanistan,” where current drones such as the Global Hawk and Predator/Reaper operate. Instead the RQ-180 would be able to fly undetected in airspace where the U.S. does not have permission and/or the protection needed to fly.This denied airspace capability has been missing from the Air Force’s inventory since the speedy SR-71 retired in 1998. The Blackbird mainly relied on its speed and altitude — along with some stealth-like qualities — to fly over countries and gather intelligence where the U.S. was not welcome.Aviation Week points to financial reports from Northrop Grumman that suggest the possibility of the new airplane, as well as satellite images of the company’s facility in Palmdale, California and Area 51 that show new hangars capable of holding aircraft with a wingspan of at least 130 feet — larger than a Boeing 737. When asked about the existence of the RQ-180, the Air Force told the trade publication that it “does not discuss this program.”

The use of unmanned aircraft for spying continues to rise year after year. But most of the work is done by slow flying aircraft such as the Global Hawk and Predators. In addition to flying relatively slow, these airplanes are also far from invisible to radar. Most of their use has been limited to flying over areas where manned fighter aircraft are able to control the skies, providing protection for the vulnerable drones.The RQ-180 on the other hand is expected to have a stealth design with greatly improved aerodynamics giving it greater efficiency, which in the case of ISR work, translates to longer missions which could include longer transits to a target area, or more time over the target.Northrop Grumman has also been publicly flight testing its X-47B unmanned combat aircraft, including take offs and landings from an aircraft carrier. The X-47B is aimed at combat as well as intelligence gathering, and is being developed for the Navy.

X37-B UpdateThe U.S. Air Force's mysterious X-37B space plane is nearing a major milestone — one year of travel in Earth orbit, performing duties in support of long-term space objectives.The unmanned X-37B spacecraft — flying a mission known as Orbital Test Vehicle 3 (OTV-3) — launched into space atop an Atlas 5 rocket from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Dec. 11, 2012. What payloads the space plane is toting and the overall mission goals on its confidential cruise are classified.The U.S. Air Force's mysterious X-37B space plane is nearing a major milestone — one year of travel in Earth orbit, performing duties in support of long-term space objectives.The unmanned X-37B spacecraft — flying a mission known as Orbital Test Vehicle 3 (OTV-3) — launched into space atop an Atlas 5 rocket from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Dec. 11, 2012. What payloads the space plane is toting and the overall mission goals on its confidential cruise are classified.But it is known that the OTV-3 mission signals a milestone for the X-37B program. [See photos from Air Force's 3rd mystery flight of the X-37B space plane ]This same vehicle was flown on the X-37B program's inaugural flight back in 2010. That OTV-1 mission lasted nearly 225 days in orbit, gliding back to Earth on autopilot over the Pacific Ocean and touching down at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.An OTV-2 mission, which used a different X-37B space plane, was lofted in 2011. That vehicle flew for 469 days, more than doubling its sister ship’s space stay, concluding its mission by also making a Vandenberg landing.

Altitude changesA global network of skywatchers has been keeping an eye on the robotic space plane's movements during its three flights to date. Some veteran observers, like skywatcher Kevin Fetter of Brockville, Ontario in Canada, have even captured video of the X-37B space plane in the night sky. The amazing craft was able to change altitudes during the mission, temporarily evading Earth tracking teams who were following its trek across the night sky. No spacecraft has ever been able to change orbits under its own power before. This makes it the most adaptable and formidable space drone ever created.

The U.S Air Force’s highly secret unmanned space plane will land in June - ending a year-long mission in orbit.

The experimental Boeing X37-B has been circling Earth at 17,000 miles per hour and was due to land in California in December. It is now expected  to land in mid to late June.

At launch, the space plane was accompanied by staff in biohazard suits, leading to speculation that there were radioactive components on board.

The men and women of Team Vandenberg are ready to execute safe landing operations anytime and at a moment's notice,' said Colonel Nina Armagno of the U.S. Air Force's Space Wing.

The plane resembles a mini space shuttle and is the second to fly in space.

It was meant to land in March, but the mission of the X-37B orbital test vehicle was extended – for unknown reasons.

The first one landed last December at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California after more than seven months in orbit.

The 29-foot, solar-powered craft had an original mission of 270 days. 

The Air Force said the second mission was to further test the technology but the ultimate purpose has largely remained a mystery. Some have said it is a space surveillance craft looking at satellites and other craft in space. However, many sceptics think that the vehicle's mission is defence or spy-related.

There are rumours circulating that the craft has been kept in space to spy on the new Chinese space station, Tiangong.

However, analysts have pointed out that surveillance would be tricky, since the spacecraft would rush past each other at thousands of metres per second. And Brian Weeden, from the Secure World Foundation, pointed out to the BBC: ‘If the U.S. really wanted to observe Tiangong, it has enough assets to do that without using X-37B.’

Last May, amateur astronomers were able to detect the orbital pattern of the first X-37B which included flyovers of North Korea, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan, heightening the suspicion that the vehicle was being used for surveillance.

Other industry analysts have speculated that the Air Force is just making use of the X-37B’s amazing fuel efficiency and keeping it in space for as long as possible to show off its credentials and protect it from budget cuts. This also is nonsense as this was originally a NASA project that ran out of money and was taken over by the Air Force and placed under its Rapid Deployment Program with an unreported budget many times the original NASA budget.

After all, under budget cuts for 2013 to 2017 proposed by the Obama administration, the office that developed the X-37 will be shut down.

According to X-37B manufacturer Boeing, the space plane operates in low-earth orbit, between 110 and 500 miles above earth. By comparison, the International Space Station orbits at about 220 miles.

The speed, maneuverability, mission stability, and unknowable payload of the X37-B makes it a deployable strike drone that can reach virtually anywhere on Earth within 60 minutes. This

makes it the perfect extension of the US Nuclear Submarine fleet that can deliver warheads to near-coastal targets within minutes of the orders to launch. A small fleet of these craft would make it virtually impossible to defend against a US strike. Such a strike would be enormously expensive, and absolutely unstoppable.

This same vehicle was flown on the X-37B program's inaugural flight back in 2010. That OTV-1 mission lasted nearly 225 days in orbit, gliding back to Earth on autopilot over the Pacific Ocean and touching down at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.An OTV-2 mission, which used a different X-37B space plane, was lofted in 2011. That vehicle flew for 469 days, more than doubling its sister ship’s space stay, concluding its mission by also making a Vandenberg landing.

Lifting-body designThe two known X-37B space planes have been built for the Air Force by Boeing Government Space Systems, with flights conducted under the auspices of the Air Force’s Rapid Capabilities Office.The 11,000-pound X-37B is one-fourth the size of an orbiter in the now-retired NASA space shuttle fleet but relies upon the same type of lifting-body design. The vehicle is 29 feet long and nearly 15 feet wide and has a payload bay that measures 7 feet long and 4 feet wide. Traveling in low-Earth orbit, the space plane can operate and move between 110 miles to 500 miles in altitude.

Next-generation technologyAccording to a Boeing fact sheet, each space plane is built with lightweight composite structures, rather than traditional aluminum. A new generation of high-temperature leading-edge tiles for the wings is utilized, distinct from the space shuttle’s carbon leading-edge segments.The X-37B is outfitted with toughened uni-piece fibrous insulation impregnated silica tiles, which are significantly more durable than the first-generation tiles used by the space shuttle. Advanced conformal reusable insulation blankets are used for the first time on the X-37B.The Boeing fact sheet also points out that avionics on an X-37B are designed to automate all de-orbit and landing functions. Additionally, there are no hydraulics onboard the winged vehicle; flight controls and brakes use electromechanical actuation.

Air Force mission controlMission control for OTV flights are handled by the 3rd Space Experimentation Squadron at Schriever Air Force Base in Colorado. This unit is billed as the Air Force Space Command’s premier organization for space-based demonstrations, pathfinders and experiment testing, gathering information on objects high above Earth and carrying out other intelligence-gathering duties.While details are scant about the X-37B program , a little light on the project may be shed during the National Space Club'’s 57th Annual Robert H. Goddard Memorial Dinner, to be held next March in Washington, D.C.Slated to receive the General Bernard Schriever Award at the event is Major Joshua Chumley, USAF, Commander, Operating Location Alpha, 3d Space Experimentation Squadron, U.S. Air Force Space Command.Chumley is on tap to pick up the prestigious award "for leading a selectively manned team responsible for operation of the United States’ first unmanned, autonomous, reusable space plane — the Orbital Test Vehicle, or X-37B," according to a National Space Club press release.

Landing location?I mentioned that the space drone is going to land again; although this craft may not land at

California’s Vandenberg Air Force Base. The Air Force has been evaluating auto-piloting the vehicle down at the space shuttle landing strip at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, next door to its Cape Canaveral departure site. Making use of former space shuttle infrastructure is viewed as a possible cost-cutting measure for the program, officials have said.